Fuitchi me
by Fionn Rose
Summary: Tora Hayashi survives an Iwa attack on her clan. She is found and taken to Konoha by Minato Namikaze and placed on the ill-fated Team 7. Will her presence change the events of the future for better or for worse? Rating subject to change. Kakashi/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Fuitchi-me 

Chapter 1: Kodoku no ha 

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**Fuitchi-me means Mismatched Eyes.**

**Kodoku no ha means Lonely Leaves.**

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****A.N:**** Whoop my first Naruto fan fic! Anyone who knows me could see this one coming from a mile off. Naruto was one of the first manga/anime that I was introduced to and so I have loved many of the characters for a long time, *coughGaaraandKakashicough*, and stuck with it throughout the good and the bad. So I have caved into the plot bunny and written about it**

**About my fic's there is going to be an update schedule on my profile but basically Fuitchi-me will be updated on the 1st and 3rd week of the month and my Assassin's Creed fic, Voci nel Vento, will be updated on the 2nd and 4th week of the month. This means that you will get at least two chapters per fic per month and should allow me to make sure that all the chapters published are up to standard, **, this will also help me fit the work round me A-Level homework and revision.**

**Anyway, enough about that. On with the chapter!**

**Listening to: End Credits (feat. Plan B) by Chase and Status, *loves***

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only any OC's that happen to pop up.**

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**A black and light-blue haired woman rushed through a shadowed maze of buildings while clutching a small girl to her back. All around them the sounds of clashing metal could be heard along with the loud shouts of ninjas that seemed to rise above the din and echo around the complex. The woman carried on running forward when she suddenly froze, eyes darting about, before jumping out of the way of a large Katon that came rushing towards her. Knowing that she was running on borrowed time, the woman grit her teeth anc ran forward at an even faster pace and eventually made it to one of the few unharmed buildings still erect in the clan complex. Entering through the front door, sharp eyes scanned the hallway and eventually settled on the under stairs cupboard. She gently removed the whimpering child from her back and placed her on the floor, kneeling down so that she could look into the girl's tear filled, yellow and green eyes.

"Tora, I want you to promise me that no matter what you hear out side, you will stay here and wait until one of the clan members comes and get's you. Do you understand?"

Tora nodded her head. She may have been three but she was well aware that something dangerous was going on and that if her mother told her to stay, then it would be a lot safer to do so. The woman fiercely hugged Tora, stood up and turned round, her Konoha hatai-ate glinting in the dim light. She burnt the face of her little girl's face into her memory. After all, Heiwa Hayashi was almost certain that she would never see her daughter again.

* * *

Tora sat in the cupboard, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth, and tried to block out the noises of the fighting shinobi outside. It was not the clashing of metal kunai and other weapons that bothered the little girl, she was use to the noise from her training, instead it was the sound of those that had been defeated by their opponents that scared her. Never before had she heard such pitiful noises from a human being. This, the little girl realised, is what death sounded like. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes. Was her mother okay? Would anyone know where she was or would she be left here, forgotten? The girl continued rocking and, as the noises of battle quietened down, eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Minato Namikaze sighed deeply. When the Hokage had asked him to lead a squad of men to stop the infiltration and assassination of the Hayashi Clan, he had somehow known that it wouldn't be simple. The clan lived on the very outskirts of Grass country even though they were Konoha shinobi and they were actually the first one's to inform Sandaime about Iwa and the Land of Rock's invasion plans. Guilt stirred in his stomach as he looked around. The almost the whole complex had been levelled and destroyed in the fight. Bodies from both sides were torn and scattered all over the ground, painting the ground a vivid red and causing the metallic smell of blood to permeate the air. By the time that he had arrived with his squad, the fighting had all but finished, both sides completely wiped out and only the moans of those experiencing death throws could be heard. He had been too slow once again. It was ironic really, he thought, for his nickname, 'Konoha's Yellow Flash', had come about due to his speed and yet he never seemed to be able to get to where he was needed fast enough.

Suddenly one of his squad member's came running up behind him. "Sir, the nin-dogs have reportedly found a survivor! What are your orders?"

Minato's eye's widened. "Show me."

The chuunin gave him a sharp bow and set off towards one of the few remaining houses. The once white walls had been blackened by smoke and ashes from the battle and was crumbling in places and yet, miraculously, it still stood tall the middle of the surrounding destruction. The man halted and turned to Minato.

"Apparently the survivor is in here. We followed your orders and came to find you as soon as we knew."

"Alright. I'm going to go in by myself. If I need backup I will signal for you to come inside as well."

"Sir, yes sir!"

Minato pushed the door open and winced slightly at the loud squeak the hinges produced.

'Brilliant,' he though, 'Nice way to make my presence know to a potential enemy.'

Moving into the house's thresh hold, his sensitive ears picked up a shuffling sound coming from a door under the stairs. With practised ease Minato withdrew a kunai from the pouch on his leg and crept slowly towards the door, kunai raised. In one swift movement he yanked the door open, eyes darting around the cupboard, when he heard a small squeal of fright. Looking down, his eyes softened and filled with pity at the sight of Tora sitting on the floor with puffy eyes from crying, filled with fear. He noticed the girl glance at his hatai-ate and relax slightly.

"Did my mummy send you?" The girls voice was so quiet that if Minato hadn't seen her lips move he would have dismissed it as the wind or a strange echo.

He smiled sadly at the girl. "No. I'm afraid that she had to go."

Tears welled up in Tora's eyes and she cried silently as Minato gently picked her up and carried her outside, being careful to hide her face from the ruins that was once her home. He was met outside by his squad who all regarded the girl with pitying eyes. Minato took a deep breath and once again took charge of the situation.

"I want half of you to search the ruins for anything that may have been important to the clan, scrolls, weapons and the like. Then get it ready for transportation to Konoha. We cannot leave anything valuable behind. I want the rest of you to burn the bodies and then help with the general clean-up. I will be returning to Konoha with the child and informing the Hokage of what happened here. While I am gone you will follow the orders issued by the my second in command." He sent a hard look at the surrounding shinobi, "Is that clear?"

The squad members bowed and all replied with an, "Affirmative."

* * *

The journey back to Konoha took only five days for Minato. At the end of the first day, the small girl had finally exhausted herself and fallen asleep. What made Minato move at the punishing pace that he was, was down to the fact that the girl had not woken up again the next day. He figured that it was the shock from recent events that was causing it but he was no medic and therefore for all he knew it could be life threatening. And so it was, on the fifth day, exhausted and stressed, Konoha's Yellow Flash sped through the village gates and towards the hospital.

After dropping the girl off at the hospital and grabbing himself some soldier pills for the exhaustion, Minato headed over to the Hokage's tower. Walking swiftly in, he caught the secretary's attention. She looked over him; tired, scruffy and covered in dirt, and immediately ushered him up to the Hokage's office.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was sat behind his desk in his office trying to work his way through a huge mountain of boring paper work. It didn't matter how old he was, he highly doubted that he would ever enjoy wading through the tedious activity. He paused, his ink covered brush hovering above the next report to be signed, when he felt two familiar chakra signatures approaching. One belonged to the young secretary downstairs and the other belonged to Minato. Sarutobi smiled, he had heard from the guards at the front gate that a fast yellow flash had passed through the gate and so he knew that Minato was coming to turn in his mission report. Said shinobi entered the room and made a formal bow in Sarutobi's direction. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the younger man's scruffy appearance but didn't mention it.

"Ah Minato. I weren't expecting you back for another week. I take it that you have something important to report if the speed at which the gatekeepers say you arrived is anything to go by."

The ends of Minato's lips twitched slightly upwards in an almost-smile. "Yes. We arrived in the general vicinity of the Hayashi Clan's complex after about nine days of travelling. When we arrived, we were treated by an astonishing sight. The complex lay in ruins. It had been almost completely demolished in the battle."

Sarutobi looked down. So they hadn't made it in time.

"Go on."

"When we got into the complex there were bodies everywhere. It seemed as though both sides had completely whipped each other out. When we counted the bodies that we could find, we counted over seventy Iwa nin and twenty Hayashi's. We were sure that everyone was accounted for, when one of the nin-dogs discovered a live Hayashi."

"Oh really?" The Hokage was intrigued, "Who is it?"

"That's the thing. We don't know. It was a little girl. She has black and dark blue coloured hair and mismatched yellow and green eyes, but the building that contained the clan records and the girl is unconscious and so never gave us her name."

Sarutobi frowned. Only one little girl had survived? The description was bugging him as well. A Hayashi with black and blue hair? He thought for a little while before a name stood out from his memory and his eyes widened.

" Heiwa Hayashi!"

Minato looked confused by the sudden exclamation. "Who?"

"Heiwa Hayashi was the only Hayashi with black and blue hair. She also happened to be the clan head."

Minato's eyes also widened with shock as the pieces slotting into place.

"So the little girl, the last living member of the Hayashi clan, just happens to be the heir?"

"So it would seem. I take it you dropped her off at the hospital?"

Minato nodded. "Yes. I was worried for her health when she fell unconscious. After all, I am no medic-nin."

"Alright. You may go home and rest for awhile. I take it you want to be informed when the child wakes up?"

Smiling slightly, Minato nodded once again. "Yes I would appreciate that Hokage-sama."

* * *

Tora scowled at the smiling medic in front of her in an attempt to be scary. The woman had been constantly bothering her with "Are you okay dear?"'s and other similarly annoying questions ever since she had woken up. Needless to say that the nurse thought that Tora look cute rather than scary when she scowled and so had taken to pandering her even more than Tora thought was necessary. All she wanted to do was curl up on her hospital bed and cry. Her mummy had never come back. Instead a strange man from Konoha had taken her away.

Tora may have been three but she had already started training and learning about the clan. She picked up knowledge and concepts fairly and therefore she wasn't as stupid as most grown-ups assumed a three year is. She knew that her mummy and the other members of her family were dead. She knew due to the hole that seemed to be inside her. I made her feel cold and empty and it scared her. She didn't need people bothering her, she just wanted the hole in her heart to go away. And Tora did exactly what she wanted to do, she curled up in bed, crying and blocking the world out. All the while never saying a word, not even her name.

* * *

Minato shifted one the sofa for the tenth time in about two minutes, eliciting a glare from Kushina, who was trying to concentrate on a book that she was reading. He really couldn't help himself. He was anxious about the Hayashi girl. About two days after he had arrived back in Konoha he had received a message from the hospital staff that she had woken up and this, for a time, made the guilt of not getting there in time lessen. However now, one week after she regained consciousness, he had received a report that stated that the girl has not spoken and had to be forced to eat, and this worried him. He shifted once again. This time, instead of glaring at him, Kushina sighed, set her book down and stood up. Minato sent her a questioning glance which caused and exasperated look to pass over her face.

"Well come on. I thought that we were going to be going to the hospital. That _is _what you've been fidgeting about since you were sent that scroll this morning isn't it?"

Minato laughed nervously. It always amazed him just how well Kushina could read him.

"Ye. I'm worried about the little girl I brought in. Things aren't going well at the hospital apparently."

Kushina grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the door.

"Well hurry up then, dattebane! You're always so slow."

Mock anger plastered itself onto Minato's face. "Me, slow? I'll have you know that you are talking to the nation renowned Yellow Flash. No-one is faster than me!"

Kushina laughed loudly and her face lit up. "Okay, okay. So terribly sorry _Oh Great One. _Forgive me and my stupidity."

Minato help back a large smile and pretended to think for a few minutes. "I'll forgive you. But make sure you remember next time."

He placed a tender kiss on her head and the two of them walked at a leisurely pace towards the hospital, hand in hand.

* * *

They arrived at Tora's hospital room a short while later and were stood outside watching the girl in the room. She was hunched over in the bed, hugging her knees. The most troubling aspect was the blank expression on the girl's face. It was like the lights were on but there was nobody home, all in all a look that both shinobi felt had no place on the countenance of a young child.

Minato turned to Kushina. "Could you come in with me? I'm terrible with children."

This particular statement caused Kushina to raise an eyebrow and start laughing.

"Are you kidding me? You're excellent with children. Come on. I'm fed up of standing in the hallway."

She quickly pushed Minato in through the door, causing the little girl to look up. Kushina found herself staring at the girl's eyes. One was a deep, royal blue colour that seemed to be the same colour as the tips of her hair, the other was a bright emerald green colour. Kushina had never seen someone with odd coloured eyes and so she found herself staring at the child with a look of curiosity on her face. It was only when she leaned forwards that she realised that the girl's pupils weren't round but were the same shape as cat pupils. This caused her to take a step back towards Minato. The cat like eyes reminded her a little too much of the Kyuubi's cold, glowing pupils.

* * *

Tora regarded the two people in her room. One was a man with vibrant, spiky blond hair and a pair of calm and gentle sky blue eyes. A flash of recognition flashed through Tora's brain as she realised that this was the man that had found her in the cupboard. She flashed him a small, sad smile which he returned with a nod of the head and a bright smile of his own. Tora couldn't help it. Something about the man's grin made the hole feel smaller and she felt her small smile brighten and widen in response. This man was _good._

She looked at the shorter woman next to the nice man. She had the most beautiful hair that Tora had ever seen, it was red, silky and straight, and, just like the man, she had kind eyes. Tora liked them already. There was something strange about the lady though. Leaning forward to get a better look, confusing replaced the happy smile on her face.

She looked up at the two adults and asked in a quiet voice. "Why does the red-haired lady have nine red tails?"

The two paled in response to the question and turned to each. The look on their faces clearly sending an unspoken message to the other.

"_WHAT?"_

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_**Chapter 1 done!**

**Hope you like it!**

**Don't forget to R+R!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Yuruyakana Kaifuku.

**Yuruyakana kaifuku means Slow Recovery.**

**A.N:**** Chapter 2 is here. This was suppose to go up on Sunday but FF was playing silly buggers and the document wouldn't upload in its entirety. In this chapter there is the tiniest bit of Minato/Kushina fluff and we learn a bit about Tora's ninja potential. Yay!**

**Also, big hugs to **wordcrafter, LuvAnime4-Ever, TrashedAndScatteredSidewinder, xxxxXLorreliXxxxx **and **kakashihatakelover **for the reviews/faves/story alerts. I love you guys!**

**On with Chapter 2!**

**Listening to: Feeling Good by Muse (Told everyone that they would pop up again :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise or Kakashi :'(**

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**Kushina moved towards the girl and bent down so that they were eye level.

"My name is Kushina. Can you tell me your name?"

The girl blushed, bowed her head and spoke in a quiet voice. "My name is Tora Hayashi. Nice to meet you."

Kushina couldn't help but grin. The little girl was just too cute for words!

"Okay Tora. How old are you?"

Tora looked up at Kushina and tilted her head to the side. "Um..." She paused to think, "I was three one month ago."

Once again, the response elicited a smile from Kushina, "Three huh? So you're almost a big girl now aren't you?"

Tora gave Kushina a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and nodded. Minato now came forward and spoke to the girl.

"Tora. Can you tell us what you meant when you said that Kushina has nine red tails?"

He was surprised when he received a small scowl from the girl in response to his query instead of a straight answer. He was even more surprised by what Tora said next.

"You're rude."

Confusion replaced his surprise and so he asked her, "How am I rude?"

"Simple. You didn't introduce yourself. Mummy said that it is rude not to introduce yourself to someone."

Minato started spluttering and eventually settled for pouting at Tora. "I was going to introduce myself eventually!"

Before Tora could reply, she was interrupted by an extremely loud laugh. Jumping slightly, she looked over at Kushina who was now clutching her side and whipping away the tears that were rolling down her face, laughing all the while.

"You two -giggle- are just -giggle- too -giggle- funny!"

No sooner had Kushina finished her sentence, she was once again roaring with laughter. This brought a smile to Minato's face and he soon found himself laughing like a hyena as well.

Tora looked at the strange adults as they remained bent over, hands clutching their sides and laughing like hyenas.

'Yes,' Tora decided, 'They are very strange adults. No-one in the clan acted like that.'

It was nice. In acting so strangely and not constantly asking if she was okay like all of the nurses that came to see her, they actually made her feel better. They filled the hole in her heart a little and Tora liked that. Before she could stop herself, a small giggle made its way past her lips and soon, she to couldn't stop laughing.

After what seemed like an age, they all calmed down enough for Minato to ask his question again.

"So Tora, now that we've been introduced, what did you mean?"

Tora tilted her head to the side and looked at something behind Kushina that the other two couldn't see. "Well..; she," Tora pointed at Kushina, "has nine red tails, like I said. They're waving and see-through."

Minato pondered this information, turned to Kushina and nodded. Then he turned back to Tora and smiled.

"Thank you for your help Tora. We need to go now okay?"

Tora's smile fell. She didn't want them to go. If they went the emptiness would come back!

"Would you come and visit me again? I like you. You're nice." Tora asked in a quiet voice.

Minato and Kushina turned around from their position by the door.

"Of course we will Tora. See you soon!"

Tora smiled at them as they left, happy for the first time since she had arrived in Konoha. She would get to see the nice lady with tails and the funny yellow haired man again!

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Kushina and Minato had originally visited Tora and they now found themselves standing in a Council meeting as the Council and the Elders decided what should be done with Tora.

Danzo, a man who had most of his body covered in bandages and was one of the elders, was the first to speak.

"The girl must be put into intense shinobi training as soon as possible. She is the last of a unique kekki-genkai and has potential skills that would make her one of the most effective tools at Konoha's disposal."

Kushina felt anger flow through her at Danzo's words. She had never liked the man much anyway but hearing him refer to a three year old girl as just a weapon was shocking. Minato was also angered at his words. No-one that young should be a fully functioning shinobi. It would cause more harm than good.

It was then that Sarutobi spoke up.

"We may be at war but she is just a child. Even with intense training she would be killed almost immediately in the field."

At this remark Danzo sent a dangerous glare in the Hokage's direction. "I mean no disrespect Hokage-_sama, _but we are at war. We cannot afford to be soft and not use a great advantage when it is presented to us just because you want to coddle a little girl. A little girl who is the heir to a powerful kekki-genkai."

The two shinobi proceeded to send each other loaded glares from their seats on opposite sides of the room. Another member of the council, Koharu Utatane, spoke up, ignoring the heated glares that Sarutobi and Danzo were sending each other from opposite sides of the room.

"Both Danzo and Sarutobi are right. It is important that we get the girl battle ready and trained so that we can take advantage of her unique kekki-genkai. However, we cannot send her into battle at the age she is now. She will be inexperienced and will only cause problems that could end in her death. It would not do to loose such an important tool for the war."

Minato looked at Kushina. After hearing Koharu's words, her facial expression had changed to one akin of someone who was sucking on very sour lemons. He had suppress the urge to sigh. Kushina had always had trouble when it came to masking her emotions, in all honesty he loved her for it, however having Kushina go on an angry tirade in front of the Council was the last thing that was needed. Minato looked back up when the murmurs from the Council members died down. It looked like they had reached a consensus.

"We have made our decision. The child shall be trained in the shinobi arts for two years. We will then have her take the Genin rank test and from there she will be put into a team with other skilled Genin. Now her trainer..."

He didn't have a chance to get any further before he was interrupted by Kushina.

"Minato and I will train and care for the girl. We are both talented shinobi and Tora already knows and trusts us which will make her training go more smoothly."

Minato couldn't help but stare at the red-head beside him with complete and utter shock. 'Us? Take care and train a small child? Impossible?'

The Council were once again whispering to each other about Kushina's declaration. Many seemed to be in agreement with the idea of Kushina and Minato training Tora but below the buzz a few disapproving comments could be heard. Once again the chatting stopped and this time the Hokage stood up.

"The Council have agreed that this would be suitable. However, the two of you will still need to complete any missions and assignments that you are given. Is that understood?"

Both Kushina and Minato bowed politely at the Hokage. "Of course Hokage-sama."

"Alright. Both of you are dismissed. Go and collect Tora from the hospital before you go home. I hear that she is now well enough to be discharged."

* * *

As soon as they had stepped out of the Council chamber, Minato whirled round and stared at Kushina. A look of incredulity on his face.

"Are you _insane?_"

Kushina regarded him with a level expression on her face.

"I can assure you, Minato, that I am perfectly sane thank you very much."

"But Kushina. We're jounin, not babysitters. You can't possibly mean..."

As he said this her expression darkened and filled with anger.

"I meant exactly what I said in front of the Council Minato." At this point her voice was dangerously quiet. "That little girl is all alone and involved in things beyond her control due to circumstances that she didn't want. They were about to turn her into a cold, unthinking, unfeeling killer. Do you really expect me to sit by when they tried to pull something like that. DO YOU?"

By the end of Kushina's tirade she was shouting in near hysteria. Minato's face softened and he pulled her into a tight hug when he realised exactly why she was so upset.

"She reminds you of yourself when you received the Kyuubi doesn't she?" He murmured into her hair as he embraced her. "You don't want her to be sad, afraid and alone like you were, do you?"

Kushina shook her head as she hugged him back. After a few minutes spent in the comfort of each other's embrace, they stepped away from each other and Minato smiled down at her.

"Come on then. Let's go pick up Tora and get her moved in."

* * *

Tora looked up at the two people standing in front of her with wide and hopeful eyes.

"I get to live with you and you'll train me as well?"

Minato couldn't help put chuckle at the hopeful look on Tora's face.

"Yep. My team have also delivered everything that was salvageable from your home and delivered it to your room."

"I get my own room!"

Even thought it didn't seem possible, Tora's grin widened even further and, in a blink of an eye, she rushed over to both of them and gave them a big hug around their waists.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"

Both Kushina and Minato laughed at Tora's antics.

"Let's get going and get you settled in then."

Tora smiled and grabbed Kushina's hand before they followed Minato out of the hospital and towards Tora's new home.

* * *

Tora smiled as she pulled on her toe-less sandals and strapped her kunai holder to her right and left legs.

'Sometimes being ambidextrous is a real blessing.'

Standing up from her bed, she inspected her room. Her unmade bed lay against the wall on the right side of the room, its foot ending near the door. On the opposite side of the room was a door leading to a small private bathroom that contained a toilet, a shower and any medical supplies that she might of needed. Next to the door to the bathroom stood a simple wooden wardrobe and chest of draws that contained all her clothes and ninja gear. Finally, underneath the window, was her desk and book case, stocked with different shinobi scrolls and scrolls that had been saved from the destruction of her old home. Walking over to the mirror, she checked that her shoulder length hair was tucked behind her shoulder. In the past year that she had been staying with Minato and Kushina, the black that made up the majority of her hair had lightened so that it now shone with a midnight blue tone. It still faded to a more sapphire blue colour at the tips no matter what Tora tried to do with it. Her yellow and green eyes looked a lot happier than when she had first arrived in Konoha and they no longer had a dead, unseeing look to them. All in all life in Konoha had been good to Tora. Rushing down the stairs, Tora almost ran into Kushina as she headed to the front door. Already partially through the front door, Tora shouted and apology over her shoulder.

"SorryKushina,I''tbebacktilllatersoI'?Bye!"

Kushina blinked a few times and started laughing once she managed to decode the garbled message that Tora had shouted at her over her shoulder. Shaking her head, Kushina made her way back into the kitchen and set the basket of washing that she was holding down on the table. Tora had become so much more open and friendly since she started living with them and it was obvious, even from the first session, that the girl had a talent for the shinobi arts.

* * *

_Minato guided a three year old Tora into the back garden of their house. She was dressed in a basic pair of dark trousers and a dark t-shirt along with new toe-less sandals and was looking at Minato with an expression of wary curiosity. Minato turned to face Tora and started to speak._

"_From today onwards Kushina and I will be training you in the three different shinobi arts. Do you think that you could tell me the name of the different paths?"_

_Tora tilted her head to the side, a movement that Minato and Kushina noticed she always made when thinking, and thought for a moment._

"_Um, are they Genjutsu, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu?"_

_Minato smiled at her. "Well done Tora. Now, do you know what each of them is?"_

_Tora's smile fell and she shook her head._

"_That doesn't matter. Let's start with the first one you mentioned, Genjutsu. Genjutsu are illusionary techniques created with chakra and hand seals. This can help a shinobi confuse or control an opponent. The second one you mentioned was Ninjutsu,these are any techniques that use chakra and , unlike genjutsu, they are very real. Taijutsu are weapon and hand-to-hand techniques that don't involve the use of chakra. However chakra can be used to enhance taijutsu and make it very powerful. Do you understand so far?"_

_Tora had a look of complete concentration on her face as she absorbed his words and committed them to memory. After a few moments she nodded her head slowly._

"_Alright. The first thing I'm going to do is teach you a few taijutsu stances and movement runs. If you do these everyday they should become second nature for you to use them in combat and they also help keep your body in peak condition. I'll run through them first and then you're going to repeat them. I will help you correct any mistakes and we should be done in no time!" Minato finished with a grin._

_Tora felt a grin form on her face in response and concentrated carefully on the stances that Minato was showing her. To her eyes each part of the stances were clear and well defined apart from the blur created by swift movements when he moved from stance to stance. Finally he stopped and turned to Tora._

"_Alright, your turn. Run through them as slowly as you need to."_

"_Okay."_

_Slowly Tora moved her body through the different stances taking a great deal of time to make sure she was doing it right. Minato was impressed, Tora had only made a few mistakes to her stances as she ran through them and they were easily corrected._

"_Tora, how were you able to copy the stances so well?"_

"_Well you were moving quite slowly. It was just easy to see your movements."_

_Minato thought for a bit. In all honesty, he hadn't been moving slow enough that she would have been able to see that much detail. Unless..._

"_Was one of your relatives a Uchiha? You know, the people with the spinning eyes."_

"_My granddad had red, spinning eyes. Why?"_

_'So I was right.' Out loud Minato asked Tora a question. "How much do you know about your clans kekki-genkai?"_

"_Kekki-genkai?"_

"_Its a skill that is in your blood. Your clan's kekki-genkai allows for an individual to accumulation many special skills and pass them on in completion. Kind of like someone saving up a big collection of books and then giving them to you. The reason you were able to read my movements that well is because your grandfather no doubt possessed the Uchiha's Sharingan and passed some of the skills down to you."_

_Minato pondered it for a little while longer. "Because you inherited some of the sharingan's skills, you probably will be able to see through basic illusions when you are older."_

_Tora's eyes were round with disbelief. "I could really do that?"_

"_I guess you could if you trained enough. Let's head back. I put Kushina has made ramen for tea."_

"_Yay for ramen!"_

_Minato chuckled and after ruffling her hair, he picked Tora up and carried her back to the house for tea. Kushina smiled as she saw them walking in, Tora falling asleep on Minato's shoulder._

"_How well did she do?"_

"_Very well actually. I think we can expect big things from her."_

"_I'm glad that I decided to take her in."_

_Minato pouted at that and mumbled, "It was a group decision."_

_Kushina laughed at that and patted the shoulder that wasn't being used as a pillow._

"_Think whatever you want dear, it doesn't make it true."_

_With one last laugh she walked into the kitchen. "Hurry up, the ramen's done."_

_Minato's face brightened and he quickly followed Kushina into the kitchen with the new addition to their family clinging to his back._

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_**Chapter 2 done!**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**R+R Please!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Hakuhatsu no Sutorenjā.

**Hakuhatsu no sutorenjā means The White-Haired Stranger.**

**A.N:**** Whoop Chapter 3 is here! It is the longest chapter that I have written so far and I really like. If you couldn't tell from the chapter title, Kakashi makes his story début in this chapter! *Yay!* child Kakashi is a bit difficult to write. The image I get of him is that he is still quite cool and analytical but he is four years of age and so he isn't like that all the time. It is hard to get a balance between the two sides but I hope I managed it.**

**Big hugs and cookies toLumiere01, story-teller666, RandomNinja239, LuvAnime4-Ever, xxxxXLorreliXxxxx, TrashedAndScatteredSidewinder and wordcrafter for reviewing/ alerting. You guys rock!**

**Listening to: The whole Doctor Who Score for Series 4 + 5 (Especially The Greatest Story Never Told and I Am The Doctor) as composed by Murry Gold. I swear that this guy is a musical GOD. He composes three to four pieces per episode and yet they still manage to be so high in quality that they top a lot of blockbuster movie soundtracks. GIVE IT A LISTEN! (Okay. Rant over.)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Kakashi and Gaara wouldn't disappear randomly for monthes at a time.**

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Tora ran through the busy market; dodging people carrying goods and those moving from stall to stall, shopping for the day's groceries. At first Tora had been wary when it came to the market place, never before had she seen so many people in one place all going about their own business. However, after a few trips to get food with Kushina, she had relaxed and now found it one of the most interesting places in the village. The market place seemed to have a life of its own no matter what time of day it was, there was always something going on there.

Tora finally reached the main bridge going over the Nakano River. Today the only person to be seen on the usually busy, red-wooden bridge was Minato. He was relaxing against the railing and staring at the flowing water below. Tora ran the rest of the way and skidded to a stop. Tora tugged on his arm and looked up at him, excitement clear in her eyes.

"So Minato-sensei, what are we going to be doing today?"

"Today we are going to head over to one of the vacant genin training grounds."

Tora smiled, "Cool, lead the way!"

Minato and Tora strolled to their chosen training spot; Minato taking long, loping strides and Tora trotting beside him, moving quickly so that she could keep pace with his relaxed gait. Content to take awhile to get there; enjoying the warm sunlight that shone, unhindered, by the cloudless, blue sky and the occasional small gusts of wind that rustled the green leaves on the trees and provided a refreshing coolness to the midday heat, Minato and Tora chatted amiably about various things such as their favourite flavour of ramen, the weather and one particular topic that Tora always tried to avoid.

"So Tora," Minato began, a mischievous smile appearing on his face, "Who do you think is the better sensei? Kushina or myself?"

Tora visibly paled and small beads of sweat started to form on her forehead. Tora hated that question with a passion. There was no right answer and both of them kept on asking her. She was able to perfectly picture in her mind's eye exactly what would happen if her answer showed any preference. If she said that Kushina was the better sensei, then she would be waking up some time in the near future to fine that either her clothes had all been shrunk or that her hair had been dyed some sort of horrible luminescent colour, like neon pink. Tora frowned and moved on of her hands so that it touched her hair. She loved the strange colour of her hair and knew that Minato would dye it if he knew would get a big enough reaction out of it. Everyone in the village seemed to think he was very well mannered person. Tora figured that this was because they didn't live with him.

On the other end of the scale, if she said that Minato was the better sensei then they was a very high chance of the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. This thought sent a shudder down Tora's spine. She had seen the aftermath of a angry Kushina when Minato decided that it would be funny to shrink all of Kushina's clothes. Minato had spent the rest of the day vaguely resembling a human pretzel.

"Well, you are the better taijutsu sensei and Kushina is the better ninjutsu sensei. Basically I like both of you!"

Minato chuckled. As simple as the statement was, Tora _is_ four,it showed that she could analyse pro's and con's of an action. When she became a member of genin team it would certainly serve her well.

They finally reached the training ground and Tora looked around, observing anything that might give her extra information on the area. It was an exercise that both Kushina and Minato insisted she did. Something about "_observing one's surroundings is invaluable to the ninja. It gives one information about the area, ideas for plans and traps and one will spot any anomalies or enemy ninja before walking into a trap._"

The area consisted of a large circular sparring area. It was used often and in many areas the grass had been completely worn away by people running or skidding on the ground and so only dry dust was left as the surface. Tora noted that the area was surrounded by a thick ring of trees. This, she guessed, was to give the genin practice in battles that moved between different terrain. The final thing that Tora noted was the condition of the trees closest to the clearing. Many had gashes in the bark that varied in size and so it was easy enough to guess that they were caused by people practising their aim with shuriken and kunai. Some of the other trees had wore or cracked bark. 'From people conditioning or practising taijutsu perhaps?' Tora thought.

Once she was done Tora relayed what she had observed to Minato. "Well done. You managed to find the important things about the clearing. A lot quicker than last time as well! Now, I hear from Kushina that you're having trouble with chakra control and as you know in a few days time both of us will be going on a long term mission. Therefore I'm going to show you some chakra control exercises that you can do while we're gone."

Minato walked a little bit away and picked up a leaf. "Now you are aware that chakra is made up of energy from your body and energy from your mind right?" Tora nodded. "It is normally very difficult to bring these energies together and to mould them into a technique. This is why we use hand seals when performing jutsu. These act as a map or a guide for our energy. The important thing is to be able to mould the amount of chakra you need quickly and efficiently. At your level this is very difficult and this is why you are having problems when it comes to using ninjutsu. Therefore the first exercise you are going to do is the Leaf Concentration exercise. This will help you learn more about your chakra. You stick the leaf to your forehead with chakra. Like this."

Minato held the leaf to his forehead momentarily and brought his hands away. To Tora's amazement the leaf was still attached to his forehead. "I want you to practice this exercise until you can easily move around with the leaf still attached to his forehead. After that, you are to use chakra on the bottom of your feet to climb to the top of one of the tree's in this clearing. This will increase your precision, if too little chakra is used you'll slide off the bark, and if too much chakra is used then the bark will rupture under your feet. I want you to mark the how far you get up the tree with a kunai. The final step is using chakra to walk on water. However, we should be back by then so Kushina will show you how to do that. Now for the rest of the session I want you to practice your taijutsu stances and shuriken aim."

* * *

Tora sighed as she sat down on her bed. She was quite frankly bored. Kushina and Minato had left on their mission four days ago and so she was alone in the house. Because she didn't go to the Academy she didn't have anyone to talk to or visit either. Scowling and standing up, Tora put on a pair of sandals and scowled.

'I suppose the only thing to is go train and practise my chakra control. Even if it is unbelievably boring.'

Tora finally reached the training ground that she had used with Minato. Seeing as it was about two in the afternoon and the sun was beating down quite harshly, Tora decided to sit cross-legged in the shade and do the leaf stage of chakra control. Closing her eyes, she felt the familiar warmth that her chakra generated focus on her forehead. Her goal today was to hold it in place for longer than ten minutes. Time passed and Tora felt herself completely relaxed, listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing and the occasional rustling in the trees. This calm didn't last for long however because at around the ten minute mark the energy that Tora usually expended during taijutsu and other physical activities started to build up and make Tora restless.

'Come on Tora! Only one minute to go!'

"Hey! You using the whole of the training area?"

The sudden question shocked Tora and caused her to jolt backwards with a shout.

"ARGH!"

The person in front of her was a young boy, probably around her age. He was dress in a t-shirt and shorts, both in a navy blue colour and a pair of black sandals. He was quite slim and probably was about as tall as Tora. Two charcoal grey eyes looked at her with a hint of annoyance and it was at that point that Tora was sure that she was staring. She honestly couldn't help it. She had just caught sight of the shock of silver-white hair that adorned his head, messily standing up at various angles that lent over to one side.

"Could you stop staring at my hair, I asked you a question."

Tora cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she stood up.

"S-sorry." She stuttered. "I'm only using this corner of the field feel free to use the rest."

The boy nodded, walked a short distance away and withdrew some kunai from the pouch on his thigh. Tora sat back down and tried to concentrate on the leaf exercise but she kept finding her gaze drawn to the boy throwing kunai. She frowned as she watched him throw. He kept on missing with the third kunai in his grasp but he didn't seem to be able to figure out what was wrong and was getting visibly more annoyed. Unable to help herself any longer, Tora spoke up.

"You're throwing the third kunai wrong."

"Excuse me?"

The boy whirled around and glared at Tora. "And what makes you say that?"

Tora walked over to him and withdrew three of her own kunai. "You're wrist is twisting to much when you throw and that is causing the kunai to fly of course."

The boy continued to glare at Tora. "What makes you think that you could do any better?"

Instead of replying, Tora placed all three kunai in one hand and, keeping wrist straight but flexible, threw the kunai. Smiling when all of them reached their intended targets.

"You do it like that. See?"

Tora turned back to face the boy. He was staring at her with an appraising look on his face. Tora shifted from foot to foot. The way he was looking at her was making her feel very uncomfortable.

"Kakashi Hatake."

Tora blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"My name. You know, when someone introduces themselves the polite thing to do is to return the favour." Kakashi said, one eyebrow raised.

Tora rubbed the back of her head, a nervous tick that she had unconsciously picked up from Minato, and politely inclined her head towards Kakashi.

"My name is Tora Hayashi. It's nice to meet you."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "I take it that you were practising chakra control when I disturbed you?"

Tora let out a nervous laugh. "Yeh. Apparently my chakra control is lacking compared to my taijutsu and so I've been practising."

"I have really good chakra control. I'll help you with that if you help me train in taijutsu."

Tora thought about the offer. It was a pretty good offer. She would be getting help with her chakra control and in return she just had to spar and practice throwing with this Kakashi. Tora smiled.

"That sounds like and excellent idea. Um... do you mind if I call you Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi nodded. "Only if I am allowed to call you Tora-chan."

"That's fine. Shall we do taijutsu today? I have had enough of sitting around all day."

* * *

It was with that that Tora spent most of the afternoon practising her aim with Kakashi. It was a completely different experience to practising with Minato or Kushina in a good way and it was also the first time she had been able to talk to someone her own age. Near the end of the session Kakashi asked her a question.

"So Tora-chan, who trains you? You must be home trained because I have never seen you at the Academy."

"Um, well Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei have looked after and trained me since I arrived in Konoha last year..." She trailed off. She liked Kakashi and hoped that they could be friends but she didn't really want to talk about her family. For one, it made her feel upset and she had also only know Kakashi for a few hours and it didn't feel right.

"Anyway. Do you want to meet here same time tomorrow?"

Kakashi noticed the change in subject but didn't mention it. "Sure. I'll help you with your chakra control."

Tora smiled. "I'll see you then!" And with that, she headed off home.

* * *

Kakashi watched Tora's retreating back. For once he actually found himself looking forward to tomorrow. The girl was mysterious and that made him keen to know her. Also, she seemed to be the only person his age or in the Academy that would be able to challenge him properly. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the fact that he was so far ahead of his peers but it did make it harder to have a decent match when it came to training. With a rare smile on his face as he to walked home.

* * *

Tora had been training with Kakashi for two weeks and she was having more fun than she could ever remember having. Even though Kakashi was quite level-headed he still joked about with her and they became good friends. They both met up at the training ground's where they had first met and Kakashi immediately reached for a kunai when Tora stopped him.

"Not today Kakashi-kun. We are going to relax today."

Kakashi scowled at Tora. "As shinobi we need to make sure that we are always well trained and that means practising whenever we get the chance,"

"Your kunai aim has improved greatly and I can walk up and down trees. We even practised using our chakra to walk on water for awhile. Therefore I think we deserve a break in celebration of our progress."

Kakashi pouted slightly and then sighed. They may have only know each other for two weeks but he had quickly learnt that Tora was extremely stubborn and did not back down easily. "Fine, what do you want to do?"

"Well I was thinking of buying some dango and then we could always go relax by the river or do whatever you want,"

Kakashi shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

The two of them headed off towards the main street and soon started chatting to each other.

"Say Kakashi-kun, when is your birthday?"

"My birthday is on the 15th September."

Tora face broke into a beaming smile when she heard this piece of information. "I'm older than you!" She singsonged, "My birthday is the 7th September and so that means that I am your sempai. From now on I expect you to address me as Tora-sempai!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the laughing girl strolling next to him. "In your dreams Tora-chan. You know I'm a way better shinobi than you. _You _should be calling _me _sempai."

Hearing this, the smiled fell off Tora's face and she started spluttering in indignity. Kakashi couldn't help himself; the look on her face was hilarious, before Tora knew what was happening Kakashi was doubled over, hands clutching at his stomach and tears rolling down his face in fits of laughter.

"Y-y-y-your f-face Tora-c-chan!" Was all Kakashi was able to get out before he dissolved into laughter once more.

Tora stood, mouth wide open at the spectacle in front of her. It the whole two weeks they had spent together, Tora had never heard Kakashi laugh. Her mouth closed and she smiled another blinding smile.

'Kakashi-kun's laugh is nice.' She decided. 'I hope he'll laugh like this more often now that we are friend's.'

Tora soon dissolved into her own fit of giggles and the two of them carried on with their walk into town, laughing like a pack of hyena's and causing people to send questioning stares their way. No sooner had they got their laughing under control, the only sign that it had happened in the first place was the matching grins that adorned both of their face's, when three voices called their name's from behind them.

"Kakashi."

"Tora!"

Tora turned around at the sound of her name being called and her already huge grin only seemed to get bigger.

"Minato-sensei! Kushina-sensei!"

It was only then that she noticed the man standing beside them that Kakashi had approached. He was tall, almost as tall as Minato and had a had a long silver coloured ponytail. He looked eerily like Kakashi.

Kushina seemed to notice who she was staring at. "Tora-chan this is Sakumo Hatake. I can see that you have met his son Kakashi."

Tora nodded. "Kakashi-kun has been helping me with my chakra control and I was helping him with kunai throwing. He's my friend."

All the adults present smiled at Tora's answer. Tora then blushed, realising that she hadn't introduced herself to Sakumo and so she turned to him and bowed slightly.

"Hello Hatake-san. My name is Tora Hayashi. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sakumo chuckled and ruffled Tora's hair. "it's nice to meet you too Tora-chan. Please call me Sakumo. I must thank you for keeping Kakashi company and for helping him with his training."

He then turned to Kushina and Minato. "I'm sorry to cut this evening short but I will be taking Kakashi home now. I haven't seen him in two weeks after all."

Kushina smiled. "No problem Sakumo. We'll see you soon."

Tora waved at Kakashi. "I'll see you tomorrow Kakashi-kun. We can practice our water walking again!"

Kakashi smiled and waved back. "Okay! See you at the same place as usual then."

Both four year old's made their way home with their family's. Smiles on their faces and content in the knowledge that they would be seeing each other the next day.

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**Chapter 3 end!**

**Hope you enjoyed it and expect to see the next chapter in a day or two.**

**Please R+R!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Tabi no hajimari.

**Tabi no hajimari means The Beginning of a Journey.**

**A.N:**** Wow! Longest chapter so far! This took me a little while. I just couldn't seem to get the characters personalities right in this chapter. So this is the third version of this chapter and, while I am still not 100% happy with it, it is a lot better than the other attempts. I also apologise for the crappy mini fight scene near the end of the chapter. To be honest, it is the first time I have ever attempted to write something that even vaguely resembles an action sequence but I hope to be better at them before I get anywhere near the Kakashi Gaiden.**

**On another Naruto related note, I got Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. I really like the game and the controls are a lot better than UNS 1. Lots of people have problems with the English Dub. The only problem I have with it is the lip-syncing. Apart from that I think the ED is quite funny.**

**Big shout-out to **summers revenge, Ookami-no-Seirei, I'm-So-Loveable **and **lizifang **who, at the time I wrote this, reviewed/faved/alerted. As always reviews are appreciated (especially if you have any thoughts or improvements that could be made about the story)**

**Just in case anyone is confused. Tora was brought to Konoha nine months after her birthday, so sometime in June. She has been in Konoha for 1 year and 6 months at the time she takes the Academy graduation exams. This means that it has been 3 months since she met Kakashi at the training grounds. Just thought I would specify because I read it back and saw that the time frame was a bit confusing with the time skips and all.**

**Just one more note. The next update will probably not be until Sunday because on Friday my step-sister and I are going to see Pendulum live at Wembley Arena in London as a early x-mas prezzie to the two of us. Standing tickets baby! Anyway, on with the chapter!**

**Listening to: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk (Can't wait. They've done the soundtrack for the new Tron movie. One word. EPIC!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but if I did I would finally answer the most pressing question that faces the Naruto community today. Why are there wireless radios but yet nobody has a car?**

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Tora rushed around the house trying to gather up all the things that she would need for the Academy graduation exams and to get rid of all the nervous energy that had built up in the pit of her stomach since she had woken up that morning. In her mind she was going over all the different things that she had learnt. It was in this state of mild panic that she was found by Kushina, pacing from one end of the hallway to the other. Kushina sighed. She honestly didn't understand why Tora was so worried. The girl was on par with Kakashi when it came to her skills and she had heard that Kakashi was the best student at the Academy, even if he was a few years younger than his peer. They had even managed to get Tora's strangely unstable chakra mostly under control with a series of meditative exercises. Shaking her head, Kushina pulled Tora into the kitchen so that she could eat some breakfast before going to the exam.

Tora's face turned a subdued shade of green when she spotted the toast sitting on the kitchen table. She was hungry but she was also pretty sure that if she ate anything it would very quickly find its way up and out of her stomach. Kushina noticed Tora's green pallor and the way she was glaring at the toast.

"You're going to pass with flying colours Tora-chan. After all, you do have two of the best sensei's in all of Konoha. 'ttebane!"

At this Tora felt her nervousness decrease a little. It made her stomach feel less like it was doing back flips, however, looking at the food on the plate, she realised that she still wouldn't be able to eat anything. Luckily she was saved from Kushina shoving the food down her throat by the doorbell ringing. Tora ran to the front door and opened it. Outside the front door, dressed in dark grey shorts and a t-shirt was Kakashi, head down and one of his feet scuffing the floor. Tora smiled at the sight of her silver-haired friend.

"Kashi-kun, you're here!"

At this moment Kushina came up behind Tora and also greeted the young boy.

"Hello Kakashi-kun. Are you and Tora-chan going to the exam together?"

Kakashi sent Tora a small smile and bowed to Kushina.

"Yes Kushina-san. We planned to go together because our exam's are one after the other and Tora doesn't know anyone else there."

Kushina smiled at how thoughtful Kakashi was. "Thank you Kakashi-kun. By the way, I expect to see you both back here at tea-time for a celebratory meal together."

Seeing the he was about to object, she fixed a large smile on her face and her voice became almost deathly sweet. "I simply _must _insist that you come 'ttebane. Your father is out of the village on a mission and it just wouldn't do for you to be by yourself now would it?"

Both Tora and Kakashi caught onto the threatening undercurrents of the message and grinned nervously.

"I'll make sure to bring Kashi-kun back with me. We've got to go now Kushina-sensei but we'll be back as soon as we can!"

With that, Tora grabbed Kakashi's hand and started dragging him away from the house, smiling and waving at Kushina as she went.

Kushina smiled as the two rounded the corner. It had been around the time that Tora met Kakashi that it seemed like she truly overcame the death of her clan. Even after a year of staying with Kushina and Minato her eyes had still retained an almost dull quality to them and even if she smiled and laughed it was almost detached. Kakashi changed that. Her eyes finally shone and her smiles and laughter was real. It was like he helped her connect to everybody without realising it. That was the true reason that Kushina wanted him to come over for a celebratory dinner. That way she could thank him even if he didn't realise that he had done anything. She closed the door and went to the kitchen to prepare pork ramen for Tora and some miso soup with eggplant for Kakashi.

* * *

As soon as they rounded the corner, Tora's smile fell and she let go of Kakashi's hand. Kakashi looked at her when he felt her drop his hand. He couldn't believe it. She was nervous! It was obvious even to people who didn't know her very well. Tora looked at him, she was biting her lip and her hands were wringing the long forest green t-shirt that she was wearing.

"Kashi-kun, what if I fail? I've never even been to the Academy. I bet everyone else is far better than me. What will I say to Kushina and Minato when they find out if I fail?"

Kakashi interrupted her before she could go any further. "You'll be fine Tora-chan and I'm not just saying that. It doesn't matter that you've never been the Academy. You are just as good as me and I'm the best in my year."

Tora felt her confidence return with Kakashi's words. "Thank you Kashi-kun!"

"No problem."

* * *

The two walked a little further in companionable silence when Tora asked Kakashi a question that had been on her mind for awhile now. "Kakashi-kun, why do you want to be shinobi?"

"That's easy," He replied, "I want to be a shinobi so that I can make my father proud of me and so I can help protect the village."

Tora smiled and nodded at his answer and then fell into silence.

Tora's fragile confidence fell once they got inside the Academy ground's. As soon as the other students who were taking the test saw her, loud whispers started circulating the courtyard.

"Look at that girl with that know-it-all Kakashi. Who do you think she is?"

"I don't know. I've never seen her here. Maybe she's one of those spoiled brat's who is trained privately."

"Oh my gosh look at her eyes!"

"Eww. They're different colours! And look at her odd shaped pupils, Freaky!"

"Look at the freak over there."

The comments carried on and with each comment she heard she lowered her head and felt the confidence from Kakashi's comment drain away, bit by bit. Suddenly all the comments stopped and Tora looked up to find Kakashi sending death glares at the people whispering. He then took her hand and dragged her over to the door.

"You're up next. Don't listen to those idiots. Remember what you learnt and you'll pass. I'll meet you by the swing set once my test is done. Good luck."

Tora smiled at Kakashi. Once again he had made her feel better. "Good luck to you too Kashi-kun. You better pass so that we can be on the same team."

"Whoever said I wasn't going to pass?"

Tora laughed at that and stepped into the room.

* * *

In front of her was a long table covered in headbands and two Chunins sitting behind it.

"You are Tora Hayashi correct?"

"Yes."

"Okay. First we want you to run through the katas taught to Academy students. Then you need to hit at least three out of four targets on the wall with a projectile of your choice. Do you think you can do that for us?"

Tora nodded her head and took a deep breath. In all honesty she was glad that they were testing her taijutsu first, it would help her relax which was key if she wanted to be successful when it came to the ninjutsu test. If she wasn't focused she wouldn't be able to regulate her chakra properly and the ninjutsu would completely backfire. Her body almost went on autopilot as she started to carefully flow through the katas and she felt herself smiling. They were so familiar to her that it was almost as easy as breathing. She finished the katas and reached down to her shuriken pouch on her hip. She would normally use kunai because she preferred the balance but shuriken would get her more points because they were harder to throw accurately. Placing them in between her fingers, she focused on the angle of her throw. When she was satisfied she swept her arm in front her, flicking her wrist, she watched with a sense of satisfaction as all four shuriken hit all of their targets. She turned round and caught the impressed looks of the two judges before their faces returned to a neutral mask.

"Alright now we need to test you on your ninjutsu. If you're successful with that then you will become a Konoha genin. You will need to produce three Bushins and then an accurate Henge."

Tora concentrated on the the warm chakra that flowed through her body. Forming the appropriate hand seals, she concentrated on forming three clones. Releasing the chakra, she opened her eyes and looked either side of her. The sight of three healthy looking Bushin caused her to release a breath that she didn't notice she held. After awhile, the examiners nodded and she dispersed the clones and formed another hand seal. In her mind Tora focused on the image of her chosen Henge. When Tora released her chakra, the two examiners found themselves faced with a very accurate Henge of Minato Namikaze. Minato's image smiled. Tora knew that it was accurate down to the last spike in his ridiculously spiky hair. The chunin once again nodded to show that she could cancel the jutsu. They then looked at each other, nodded and looked back at Tora, smiling.

"Well done Tora Hayashi. You are now officially a Konoha genin. Please come and choose your hitai-ate."

A huge grin broke out on Tora's face and she approached the table. Looking over all the hitai-ates on the table, she decided to go for one with black cloth, that way the colour would stand out from with her midnight blue hair. Bowing to the two chunin, she tied the hitai-ate round her head and rushed outside to meet up with Kakashi, all previous negative thoughts forgotten. Plopping down on the one of swings; she waited, head tilted back, watching the clouds. She really hoped that Kakashi made it. Then again, she passed so Kakashi would definitely be find. Ten minutes passed and Tora had moved from the swing and was now leaning against the tree trunk, relaxing with her eyes closed. Then a quiet set of footsteps approached her, Tora opened her eyes and stood up. Kakashi stood in front of her a small smirk on his face.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about."

A large smile worked its way onto Tora's face and she jumped up and down, whooping.

"We did it! We did it! I can't believe that we are both genin!"

Kakashi just smiled in return and grabbed Tora's arm. "Come on. We have awhile before Kushina-san wants us back for dinner."

* * *

The two of them found themselves sitting on part of a river bank in the empty Training Ground Seven, watching as the sun set slowly over the trees. Tora smiled and turned to Kakashi.

"Hey Kashi-kun."

"Yes?"

"We're best friends right?"

Kakashi turned and looked at her, one eyebrow raised at the absurdity of the question.

"Of course we're best friends. You're my only friend."

Tora smiled at this. "Same here. How that we're genin, I think we should make a promise to each other."

Kakashi was intrigued with the idea. "What do you have in mind?"

"I think we should promise that we will always be friends and that we will always help and look out for each other."

Kakashi smiled at the idea and nodded at his consent.

"All right! We promise on our newly earned hitai-ates and our pride as shinobi of Konoha, that we will always be friends and that we will always support and encourage each other!"

When she finished stating the promise, Kakashi repeated it and Tora held her fist out, Kakashi paused for a short moment before raising his own arm and bumping his fist against Tora's. A comfortable silence descended over the two friends as they continued to watch the sunset.

"I'm glad we became friends Kashi-kun."

"Yeh. Me too Tora-chan."

* * *

It didn't take the two long to reach Tora's house and so they entered the house, matching grins on their faces. Tora entered through the front door and called out to Kushina.

"Kushina! We're home!"

When neither of them heard a reply, they cast wary looks at each other. Stealthily making their way through the house they started checking all the rooms on the ground floor. Finally the only room left to check before going upstairs was the kitchen. They paused outside the closed door and nodded at each other, wordlessly agreeing to enter the room at the same time. As one they opened the door and stepped inside and ended up opened mouthed and speechless at the sight inside the kitchen. Inside the room were coloured banners draped around the room. The large table in the middle of the room was covered in a multitude of dishes and standing behind the table was Kushina, Minato and Sakumo. The three adults grinned at the two gob-smacked children by the door and as one they all shouted the same thing.

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

This was swiftly followed by the flash of a camera and this served to snap Tora and Kakashi out of their daze. Tora grinned at Kakashi and rushed forward towards Minato and Kushina and started talking animatedly to them about her performance in the exam. Sakumo walked over to Kakashi and ruffled his hair and smiled down at him.

"Well done Kakashi. I'm proud of you."

Kakashi felt his heart swell. His father had praised him. He couldn't believe it. With a large smile on his face he hurried over to Tora and they started talking. After Tora and Kakashi had calmed down, everyone sat down to tuck into the miniature feast that Kushina had prepared. There was a large collection of dishes and much to Tora's and Kakashi's joy there were large bowls filled with their favourite dishes. All parties quickly devoured the food and as the evening drew to a close Kakashi and Tora opened some presents from the adults. Tora received a black bladed and white handled kodachi from Minato called Kuroi Inazuma, this caused Tora to launch herself at Minato and grip him in vice like hug. From Kushina she received a photo album and a locket to "keep future memories in." Finally, from Sakumo and Kakashi, she received a brand new set of kunai and shuriken that were made from the same black metal as her new kodachi.

Kakashi received new shuriken and kunai from Minato and Kushina, a chakra absorbing knife from Sakumo which caused Kakashi to smile widely and, much to his annoyance, a tub of hair gel from Tora. When he saw this he sent her a weak glare.

"What use will this be in my day to day activities as a genin?"

Tora pretended to think for a little while and smiled.

"Weeeellllllll...Your hair is always spiky and so I thought that you must use up a lot of hair gel to get it to stay like that."

Kakashi was pouting now. "You know as well as I do that my hair is _naturally _spiky and that there is nothing that I can do about it."

Tora giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. "Of course I remember Kashi-kun. It was one of the first things I asked you when we became friends after all."

Kakashi finally stopped pouting when Kushina started to usher them into the middle of the room along with Sakumo and Minato. She got them all standing together; Sakumo and Minato towards the back and room on the end for Kushina, Tora and Kakashi on the front row, hands entwined and smiles on their faces. Kushina quickly set the timer and ran around Tora to stand next to Minato. Together they counted down the ten seconds before the camera flashed, preserving the moment and freezing it in time. Finally the evening drew to a close and Sakumo left with a tired looking Kakashi trailing after him. Tora gave him a sleepy wave as Kushina closed the door and Minato carried her up the stairs.

"It's time to go to bed Tora-chan."

Tora lifted her head of his shoulder and yawned. "But I'm not tired yet 'Nato."

Minato laughed quietly as he set her down on her bed. "Of course not! However, don't you have to go and meet your team tomorrow?"

Tora yawned again. "I s'pose you're right. Night night otou-san."

Minato froze for a brief moment when he heard the murmured ending of Tora's half asleep sentence. He finally unfroze and a small smile spread across his face. He supposed that he could get use to being called that.

* * *

Tora shuffled nervously outside the door to the classroom as she listened to the excited chatter of the newly appointed genin inside. She ducked her head down and looked at the clothes that she had picked out. Black ninja sandals encased her feet, a baggy purple t-shirt hung of her shoulders and was secured around her waist by a belt with a pouch containing kunai and empty scrolls. She then wore a pair of knee length black shorts. Kushina had tried to get her to change the black coloured clothes to blue but Tora had flat out refused. She hated wearing the colour blue. It clashed with her hair and made her look like a blueberry. Taking a deep breath, Tora opened the door and stepped into the classroom. As soon as she set foot in the room all the chatter stopped and Tora started to blush when all eyes turned to her and the whispering started up again. The sounds of some of the more hurtful comments that centred around her odd eyes. This caused Tora's cheeks to burn even more in embarrassment and started to almost frantically search the room for Kakashi. She finally spotted him and dashed over.

"Thanks for saving me a seat Kashi-kun."

"No problem."

"Kashi-kun...do you think my eyes are weird?"

He groaned and looked over her. "You're letting this bother you again? I personally think your eyes are cool. They look like cat's eyes and its different. Anyway," He tapped her brand new headband, its already familiar weight shifting slightly as he did so. "Your a genin of Konoha and that means that you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Tora gave Kakashi a beaming smile."Thank you Kashi-kun. You always know how to make me feel better."

It was at that moment that a Chunin walked into the room. Tora listened intently for her and Kakashi's names and she secretly preyed to Kami that they would be on the same team. Finally, after what seemed like an age, her name was called out.

"Team 2. Hayashi, Tora. Hatake, Kakashi and Sutāringu, Ken."

She smiled at Kakashi. She got to be on the same team as her best friend! She didn't know who this Ken person was but she hoped that he was nice. It was only then that she realised something. Leaning over so that she was nearer Kakashi, she whispered in his ear.

"Hey Kashi-kun. Why do you think that guy didn't mention who our sensei was going to be? I mean, he did it for all the other teams."

Kakashi whispered back. "I don't know Tora-chan. It is a little strange. We'll find out soon enough I suppose."

* * *

Soon all the sensei's had come to collect their teams apart from Team 2's. Tora looked over at the other member of their team. He was a lot taller than Kakashi so Tora figured that he was one of the older students to graduate from the Academy. She had never heard of any shinobi with the surname Sutāringu before so that meant that he came from a civilian family. Tora next studied his appearance. He had very short cut brown hair and slightly tanned skin. He was wearing a red long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of red shorts and fixed to his waist was what looked like a hunting knife with a serrated edge. From the disgruntled look on his face Tora could see that he wasn't very happy. Because of this he walked over to him and decided to introduce herself.

"Hello, my name is Tora..."

As soon as she started speaking the boy's head whipped round towards her and he scowled at her. "I don't care who you are freak eyes. Just because you passed the exam with higher scores than me doesn't mean that I will admire you." He turned his head and glared at Kakashi who was staring out the window. "Same goes for you Hatake. Just because you look like your old man doesn't mean that you will ever be as good as him."

To Ken it looked like Kakashi didn't hear him at all but Tora caught a flash of hurt pass through his eyes. It was Kakashi's dream to live up to his father's legacy and this older boy had just trampled all over it. Tora poked Ken hard in his ribs. This caused the boy to jump and let out a small exclamation of shock.

"I don't care what you say to me but I don't care for baka's who insult my friends."

Ken glared at her. "You want to start something freak?"

"Why yes, I think I do."

Both of them got into their fighting stances and Ken smirked at Tora, feeling safe in his notion of victory. "Bring it."

Tora swiftly moved forward at a faster speed than Ken expected. Seeing this, he threw a punch aimed at Tora's face. Going with her instincts, Tora ducked under the punch and kept moving forward. Seeing that Ken was still regaining balance from the punch, she dropped to the ground and tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him. Ken tried to jump over her leg but didn't get high enough and he tumbled to the floor. Righting himself as soon as possible, he drew his knife from his belt. Tora withdrew a kunai from her pouch and the two genin started to circle each other. Glancing around Tora tried to look for anything that would give her an advantage. Ken was bigger than her and so she would most defiantly lose if it came to close combat. It was then that Tora noticed the loose sleeves of the top he was wearing. A plan decided on, she continued circling him until he was closest to the wall and, with a deep breath, she flicked her wrist and let the kunai fly. Before Ken could react, the kunai had gone through the sleeve of the arm holding the knife and embedded itself into the wall, effectively pinning him in position.

"I win."

As soon as that statement was made, the door opened and a smile found its way to Tora's face.

"_You _are _our _sensei?"

Kakashi looked over at the door to see who it was and a smile also graced his face.

"Hello Minato-san."

Minato took in the sight of the room and raised an eyebrow at Ken, who was trying to dislodge the kunai from the wall. He had been watching what went on from outside the window and had been quite surprised by Tora's actions. Then again, so had Kakashi it the look on his face was anything to go by.

"Now that we are all friends," This earned him a glare from all three genin, "meet at Training Ground 2 tomorrow for some light sparring and a mission in the afternoon. Dismissed."

No sooner had he finished his sentence when Ken stormed out of the room, he had given up trying to get the kunai loose and had torn his shirt to get free. Minato looked at Kakashi and Tora and sighed.

"What ever will I do with the two of you?"

* * *

**Chapter 4 End.**

**In terms of the next chapter, all I'm going to say is this:**

**Ladies, stay away from the hot springs :3**

**Please Review!**


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